Ice Cream - Now without strange additives

Home made icecream, not all that tough as the Italians make it up to! I'll show you a base which can then be varied according to your taste. In the past I've used crushed oreos, marzipan and chocolate, fresh strawberries. But how about the calories, you might ask. Well, if you are going to have icecream and worry, just have less or none at all. I've just read an article about a test of different supermarket ice cream, and I don't want to tell you what they put in them because this is a blog about food and that wasn't food they put in them. So don't go out and by industrial icecream before you check what E-numbers and strange additives they put in. This homemade icecream is pure cream and eggs, not low in calories but at least you know what's in it. Just look at these ingredients:

300 ml cooking cream
1 vanilla pod
4 egg yolks
115g powder sugar
300ml whipping cream
Filling (suggestions):
Crushed Oreos
Mint and chocolate
Strawberries
Cheesecake
Licorice

Start by bringing the cooking cream to the boiling point. If you have a fresh vanilla pod, cut it open, scrape out the seeds and add seeds and pod into cream. If not, add a spoonful of vanilla powder. Once it reaches boiling point, turn off heat.

Put the egg yolks in a separate bowl.

Add the sugar.

Whisk it until it gets white and airy.

Add the cream bit by bit while stirring constantly. If you add it all at once the yolks will coagulate and you'll have a portion of vanilla scented scrambled eggs.

Pour it through a sieve to filter out vanilla pod, any coagulated egg yolk or cream skin.

And back into the bowl again.

On a bain-marie (double boiler; the bowl with the cream is inside a pot with boiling water. Thisway you controle the heat doesn't rise too fast.) Keep stirring for 10 minutes. This is the only bit of hard (read 'boring') work. You'll have to watch it or the eggs will overcook and scramble. Don't let it boil.

After 10-15 minutes it should be sufficiently thickto stick to the back of a wood spoon. Btw. the Italians would never use anything but a wooden spoon to stir with, but then again they would also just use cobber pots, so I guess you will be ok. Let it cool off completely for an hour, stirring now and then not to let the cream and eggs separate.

Whip 300ml whipping cream till a stiff peak.

Mix it into the cooled off cream. Now if you have an ice cream machine, now is the time to pour in the base and start churning. Then add the different tastest once it starts getting some texture. I don't have such a machine, so I have to simply just freeze it in the freezer.

For one filling I experimented with making a mint chocolate ice cream. Cut up some dark chocolate.

Added the icecream and a shot of peppermint liqueur. I couldn't find mint essence. Thought if I didn't put too much it would just have a taste of it. Verdict comes later.

It turned green alright.

For the main portion, I was going for cheese cake flavour. I mixed a portion of philidelphia cheese with some sugar and lemon and added it to the icecream base.

Then I had some crumbled bisquits mixed with melted butter.

And finally I poured it into a recipient (more or less 1 litre) and added some spoonfuls of blueberry jam. Then I put it in the freezer and waited.

After 1 hour I took it out and stirred it. This apparently prevents cristals from forming in the icecream. I've tried repeating the process every half hour but I wouldn't recommend it. I discovered later that the cristals grow bigger everytime the temperature is lowered. You probably know it from refreezing ice cream that has been out for some time. It's never the same. In conclusion, only stir it once and then freeze.

Finally I froze it overnight, took it out 15 minutes before serving and I ended up with the most delicious home made icecream.

Peppermint icecream verdict: As expected the alcohol made it freeze slower and subsequently melt faster. You could taste the alcohol and it was pepperminty - not minty. I'll try to look harder for the mint essence next time.